Short-eared Owl Carrying A Vole In Its Beak (for a change)
I have many images of Short-eared Owls carrying prey in their talons in flight but very few where they’re carrying the prey in their beak. This is one of them.
Tag: flight
Is A Hawk Capable Of “Planning”?
I sometimes see hawks buried so deeply in trees that I can’t help but wonder how they’re going to fly out without injury or at least feather damage. They occasionally appear to “think” about their escape route just before take-off, which implies “planning”. Some images I took yesterday brought the question to mind once again – are hawks capable of “planning”?
Ferruginous Hawks Hunting From Power Poles
Ferruginous Hawks are our largest and most powerful buteo but they’re also secretive, wary of humans and often roost on the ground so they can be difficult to locate.
Black-billed Magpie In Full Flight (not taking off)
Magpies aren’t among the most glamorous of birds so they don’t get a lot of attention from photographers but I enjoy them for their fascinating behaviors, their gutsiness and their apparent intelligence. And if you want a particularly challenging photographic subject you can’t go wrong with the Black-billed Magpie.
Male Northern Harrier In Flight – A Lucky Shot
Male Northern Harrier – Hunting Low And Slow
I’ve been photographing Northern Harriers for years now and I still get a thrill whenever I can get close to one of these shy hawks. And if it’s an elusive adult male (the “Gray Ghost”), well that’s just icing on the cake.
The Interdependence Of Short-eared Owls And Voles
Though Short-eared Owls are one of the worlds most widespread owls, the species is highly dependent on the density of its small mammal prey, voles in particular. Since vole populations fluctuate wildly, Short-eared Owls show significant local variation in numbers and reproductive success from year to year.
Cliff Swallow In Flight
For years I tried to photograph swallows in flight, usually without much strategy – just shooting them wherever I might find them. That typically meant while they were freely flying overhead or buzzing the surface of a pond or stream as they picked off insects and it always meant failure on my part. They’re just too fast, too small and too maneuverable for my autofocus and reflexes.
Then one day I decided to change strategies…
Owl Head-on Flight Shots Don’t Have To Be Baited
Head-on flight shots of owls have often been baited using live, store-bought mice. I’m of the opinion that baiting raptors is not only unethical (a debate I’d prefer to not get into here) but unnecessary for those kinds of images. However they typically require patience, intimate knowledge of the subject, a keen eye for interpreting behavior and even a little luck.
Screaming Dark Morph Ferruginous Hawk In Flight
Last week, partially in an effort to get away from the aggravations of the blog hosting problems I’d been having, I decided to make the extra long drive to extreme northern Utah in a quest for Swainson’s Hawks. We found quite a few and a delightful bonus was a plethora of Ferruginous Hawks in the same area.
Flaring Rough-legged Hawk
No, the Roughies haven’t returned early from their northern adventures. It’s just that I got to thinking about them yesterday while looking through some older images and was reminded of how handsome they are and how much I look forward to their appearance in the fall.
A Tough Subject – Mourning Dove In Flight
Mourning Doves one of the most difficult of all species I’ve ever attempted to photograph in flight. Their flight is fast and erratic and their take-off speed impressive (most observers are aware of the whistling noise made by their incredibly fast wing beats as they take off and land). All this makes for an aggravatingly difficult bird to photograph in flight – whether at take-off or in full flight. Until yesterday morning I still didn’t have a Mourning Dove flight shot.
Adult Light Morph Swainson’s Hawk
My last post was of a juvenile light morph Swainson’s Hawk transitioning into a subadult, this bird is an adult light morph and my next post will be of a dark morph Swainson’s (and perhaps an intermediate morph also) – this is turning into a series…
Northern Harrier Gaining Altitude
This hawk was attempting to gain altitude, thus the angled body with the wing raised high.
My Favorite Shrike Flight Shot
I spent some more time with my favorite Loggerhead Shrike family yesterday morning and was able to get this image of a juvenile soon after lift-off. This may be my favorite shrike flight shot so far.
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Is A Hawk Capable Of “Planning”?
I sometimes see hawks buried so deeply in trees that I can’t help but wonder how they’re going to fly out without injury or at least feather damage. They occasionally appear to “think” about their escape route just before take-off, which implies “planning”. Some images I took yesterday brought the question to mind once again – are hawks capable of “planning”?
Ferruginous Hawks Hunting From Power Poles
Ferruginous Hawks are our largest and most powerful buteo but they’re also secretive, wary of humans and often roost on the ground so they can be difficult to locate.
Black-billed Magpie In Full Flight (not taking off)
Magpies aren’t among the most glamorous of birds so they don’t get a lot of attention from photographers but I enjoy them for their fascinating behaviors, their gutsiness and their apparent intelligence. And if you want a particularly challenging photographic subject you can’t go wrong with the Black-billed Magpie.
Male Northern Harrier In Flight – A Lucky Shot
Male Northern Harrier – Hunting Low And Slow
I’ve been photographing Northern Harriers for years now and I still get a thrill whenever I can get close to one of these shy hawks. And if it’s an elusive adult male (the “Gray Ghost”), well that’s just icing on the cake.
The Interdependence Of Short-eared Owls And Voles
Though Short-eared Owls are one of the worlds most widespread owls, the species is highly dependent on the density of its small mammal prey, voles in particular. Since vole populations fluctuate wildly, Short-eared Owls show significant local variation in numbers and reproductive success from year to year.
Cliff Swallow In Flight
For years I tried to photograph swallows in flight, usually without much strategy – just shooting them wherever I might find them. That typically meant while they were freely flying overhead or buzzing the surface of a pond or stream as they picked off insects and it always meant failure on my part. They’re just too fast, too small and too maneuverable for my autofocus and reflexes.
Then one day I decided to change strategies…
Owl Head-on Flight Shots Don’t Have To Be Baited
Head-on flight shots of owls have often been baited using live, store-bought mice. I’m of the opinion that baiting raptors is not only unethical (a debate I’d prefer to not get into here) but unnecessary for those kinds of images. However they typically require patience, intimate knowledge of the subject, a keen eye for interpreting behavior and even a little luck.
Screaming Dark Morph Ferruginous Hawk In Flight
Last week, partially in an effort to get away from the aggravations of the blog hosting problems I’d been having, I decided to make the extra long drive to extreme northern Utah in a quest for Swainson’s Hawks. We found quite a few and a delightful bonus was a plethora of Ferruginous Hawks in the same area.
Flaring Rough-legged Hawk
No, the Roughies haven’t returned early from their northern adventures. It’s just that I got to thinking about them yesterday while looking through some older images and was reminded of how handsome they are and how much I look forward to their appearance in the fall.
A Tough Subject – Mourning Dove In Flight
Mourning Doves one of the most difficult of all species I’ve ever attempted to photograph in flight. Their flight is fast and erratic and their take-off speed impressive (most observers are aware of the whistling noise made by their incredibly fast wing beats as they take off and land). All this makes for an aggravatingly difficult bird to photograph in flight – whether at take-off or in full flight. Until yesterday morning I still didn’t have a Mourning Dove flight shot.
Adult Light Morph Swainson’s Hawk
My last post was of a juvenile light morph Swainson’s Hawk transitioning into a subadult, this bird is an adult light morph and my next post will be of a dark morph Swainson’s (and perhaps an intermediate morph also) – this is turning into a series…
Northern Harrier Gaining Altitude
This hawk was attempting to gain altitude, thus the angled body with the wing raised high.
My Favorite Shrike Flight Shot
I spent some more time with my favorite Loggerhead Shrike family yesterday morning and was able to get this image of a juvenile soon after lift-off. This may be my favorite shrike flight shot so far.